Identity Crisis
by Lana Archer
Summary: The Other Side is both a sanctum and a prison. How will Bonnie deal with the consequences of her decision to bring Jeremy back? And who is the mysterious vampire she finds lost in the grey woods of the echo world? Eric X Bonnie
1. Chapter 1

**Note:** Because Eric Northman is EVERYTHING. Do you hear me?

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 **Title:** Identity Crisis

 **Pairing:** Eric Northman X Bonnie Bennett

 **Rating:** For now? Hella PG

 **Summary:** This is circa season four between both shows; Eric has lost all his memories and Bonnie's died and landed on the other side. This is where they find one another. Could be fun.

 **Part I: Where Are We?**

 **Act I:** _ **Tall Dark & Strangesome. **_

Bonnie Bennett didn't know what she expected from death. An endless inferno? A clouded mirage? Re-birth?

Yet, none of that was what greeted her when she reopened her eyes. Everything was cold, but that didn't surprise her. The trees, they were far too familiar to be entirely a dream. She ran her small fingers over the smooth bark of the nearest one and marvelled at the texture. But it's colour was dulled, the rich browns she'd come to expect dulled to a meagre grey.

Same with the leaves, and the earth and the sky. She couldn't see a sun, or a moon and the air was flat and dense, not with moisture, but almost with the echo of what was meant to be moving between the trees.

Life, she realised. It was life that was absent here. The hollowness surrounded her with its sudden intensity and Bonnie broke into a sprint. She couldn't say where she was headed, couldn't ascertain her bearings to get a gist of her location – but she ran.

The cry of a man in anguish stopped her hurried footfalls and she spun around in the direction of the sound. There it was again. The noise gripped a part of her chest and created an ache; the same ache, she realised bitterly, that had propelled her to make the rash decisions that caused her to end up here in the first place. But it ached all the same and she couldn't fight the urge to find this man. Find him and perhaps help him. Perhaps he could help her.

Bonnie rushed in his direction, trampling over vines and fallen trunks, pushing her hair away as it blew into her face from the phantom breeze she birthed in her haste. The howling turned to sobs as the sound loudened with her proximity. "Hello?" She called out, her voice so small and tentative. It seemed to swallow up his misery as he turned silent as she crept behind a tree to get a better look at him. "Is anyone there?"

He was tall; frighteningly so. She could tell even as he sat, hunched over on himself. And pale, so pale that had her own experiences with vampires not accustomed her to this particular colour she would have assumed him dead. He had short wisps of shimmering blonde hair that she could discern clearly as she stepped out from her hiding place. When her foot crunched over an errant twig his back stiffened. Each muscle moved and shifted under the dim lighting of their surroundings. He was shirtless.

He spun around to her, red-rimmed blue eyes wide as he stood to his full length.

"Yes." His voice was a delicate thing, despite his length. It almost made her want to worry for him. But her instincts kept her in place and alert. Bonnie's mouth could only fall open as she tried to wrap her head around the sheer size of him. He looked about two metres in height and his entire torso was a rippling of muscle and scarred skin. His arms hung limply at his sides and he looked so terribly… _lost_.

"Wh-who are you?" Bonnie stammered. His fair brows furrowed for a moment as he considered her question. She could see him try and formulate an answer, his small bowed lips pursed in deep thought. Her brows arched expectantly.

"I…I don't know." He breathed, seemingly alarmed at the fact. His eyes teared up and frightened him more than it did Bonnie and he used that familiar unnatural speed to hide his face from her. That ache in Bonnie's chest returned. There was something about him that called to that part of her; the part that needed to protect, care for, fight for. For all his imposing physicality, she knew he was as lost as she was here in what she was beginning to recognise as the Other Side – if not _more_ so.

Foregoing all logic and reason she shuffled to close the space between them and slowly, making sure he was at all times aware of her, she rounded him and shot him a tremulous smile.

"Are you lost?" She asked. He nodded. She tilted her head. "Are you afraid?"

"Very." He mumbled unhappily.

"Don't be." Bonnie said but held up a finger, "Well, of me at the very least."

"Something inside of me tells me you should be afraid of _me_." The man said.

"Are you going to hurt me?" She prompted, awfully calm in the face of everything.

"No." His eyes bugged. "I don't know how long I've been here," he looked down at his bare feet and moved to wriggle his toes toward each other, "But you're the first person I feel like I've seen in d-days…I would, I would _never_ –"

"Okay." She nodded. "Now, I guess we need to figure out who you are." He frowned at her curiously.

"But I don't know who you are." He said.

"I'm Bonnie," She stuck out her hand, "Bonnie Bennett."

"Hello," his voice was as sweet as honey and just husky enough to perk up your ears, "…Bonnie." She grinned as they shook hands, ignoring the rush of death that prickled her skin.

"How did you get here?" He asked.

"I died." She said easily. He flinched.

"Did, I…Am I?"

"Dead?" She filled in for him, "Probably." He looked more miserable than before, she actually felt badly for him. "But I'm pretty sure we're in this place…The 'Other Side'," he stared at her little fingers as she curled them in the air between the two of them. "Which means, we're not _dead_ -dead." His pale blue eyes went back to her face. He seemed to constantly be reading her, gauging her every motion, breath, word.

"I haven't been 'dead-dead' for a long time now." He said matter-of-factly. "I'm a monster." Bonnie's mouth quirked off to the side as she observed him.

"You're a vampire." She corrected him and he narrowed his eyes. "Or are you both?" Instead of answering he took a cursory whiff of the air around her and his pupils dilated.

"That smell." He breathed, like he couldn't help himself. "What is it?"

"Me, probably," Bonnie rolled her eyes. "I'm a witch." A memory flashed in his mind's eye at the mention of the word 'witch' and he sprang away from her with a loud hiss.

"Did you do this?" He gasped. He'd trusted her, how could he not? She moved between motes of sunlight that followed her; the only colour he'd seen since he got here. That and the pale green of her eyes. Oh, and her skin. He blended in to this horrid world so easily, but she managed to shine in it.

"What?" She looked appalled, "I don't even _know_ you."

" _I_ don't even know me," his voice grew angrier and something inside of him wriggled within the sensation; there was a fragment of himself that stirred at the mention of his rage. It scared him too. Everything frightened him. When would it end? "How do I know it wasn't you?"

"All I was trying to do was help you," Bonnie's hands were raised as she gave him a wider berth. "I'll leave you alone then." And a second later, as she turned to leave, he was in front of her again.

"Don't leave," he begged, that was the only word for it, "I'm sorry, I just. I didn't mean to upset you."

"You really don't know who you are, do you?" Bonnie asked and the expression he had on his face as he slowly shook his head 'no' damn near broke her heart. "Do you want me to stay?" The last word got stuck on her tongue for a moment but she managed to speak it before she lost her nerve. She'd honestly seen stranger things in her life before this moment, and she was really hoping her desensitisation hadn't gone and made her plain stupid.

But then his eyes lit up and her breath caught a little, god he was beautiful and a smile made his lips wobble a bit with the sincerity of his relief. "If you stayed I'd be eternally grateful." He vowed. Bonnie couldn't help but smile.

"Luckily for you," she quirked a brow at him, "Even if we get out of this, I won't live that long so I won't have to hold you to that." He couldn't even articulate a response to that. One moment he'd found a 'friend', the next moment there was a clock on their time together. He was grasping, he knew, but the thought of losing her, no matter how far away – it weighed on his chest instantly.

"Until then." He nodded shakily and stood to his full height. Her eyes followed his gaze and she twisted her torso to look off into the ominous woods surrounding them. "Where are we?"

"Mystic Falls." She hoped. "I think."

"Never heard of it." He shrugged quickly – his demeanour reminded her a bit of a puppy. "Is there a way out of here?"

"Sure, we should get going." Bonnie said, and turned and manoeuvred her way through the broken branches and foliage. Not giving it a second thought, he sped over and lifted her up and over the bulk of it. Setting her down just as quickly. She giggled and shook her head but waved him onward. "If we can find the town, I know who we need to go to."

"More witches?" The man balked and she shook her head _no_ , thankfully.

"He's a, uh, friend. He sees dead people." The man frowned but said nothing more as they walked forward. "So, what _do_ you remember?"

"All I can recall is the sound of the ocean and then a woman, a witch," his breath hitched over the word, "Casting a spell on me."

"I wonder what you did." Bonnie said conversationally. He hummed in agreement.

"Something awful probably, I wasn't a good person."

She glanced up and saw the worry etched into his face. "I don't think it matters right now." Bonnie said. "So don't think about it too much."

"What happens when I remember?" He asked and she didn't look at him when she thought about it. She didn't know him at all. If he ever got his memories back; returned to the person who angered a witch to a retaliation spell of this magnitude – who knew what he was in fact capable of. And yet at the same time –

"What if you never remember?" Bonnie countered. "I don't want to upset you," she added hurriedly, "But, from the little experience I have myself, countering spells, spells like _these_ especially, it's never easy if it's possible at all."

"I don't remember anything, never mind any _one_." His shoulders drooped. "If I never do. I'll have nothing." His steps halted altogether and Bonnie swallowed as she turned to him. That ache came back full force. A part of her wanted to comfort him; got so far as to extend a hand to him. But she dropped it and crossed her arms and chewed on her bottom lip instead.

"There's always _something_." Bonnie said assuredly, "Some _one_." For all she knew he had a family or Coven or both, searching for him endlessly. Just because he couldn't remember didn't mean they weren't there. At the same time, if he was the villain in the story; if he's deeds had left him isolated and this punishment only sealed his fate – then, well, then he had to make the best of it.

"Are you always this hopeful?" He wondered quietly, his eyes trained on her again.

"Unfortunately." She sighed, bumping her shoulder to his torso, "Come on, the sooner we see my friend, the sooner this all ends."

"Okay." He fell in step with her; which luckily for him were long strides despite her slightness. They walked off into the filtering smoke and woods, hoping to see the town's lights.

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 **A/N:** As you may have gathered from the beginning of the fic with the 'Part I' business; I do have an actual plan in mind here. But, I will just as happily cut my losses and let my darlings disperse to smoke if the story doesn't pick up. It was just too tempting not to try. Stay excellent XO


	2. Chapter 2

**Title:** Identity Crisis

 **Pairing:** Eric Northman and Bonnie Bennett

 **Rating:** Still hella PG

 **Note:** My muse has been very fickle lately. Let me know which fics I should try and steer in the direction of, update-wise, for now though, enjoy this one, it will grow on you.

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 **Part I: Where Are We?**

 **Act II: _A Vampire By Any Other Name Still Has Teeth_**

They'd been quiet for all of five minutes during their walk when his gaze became too much for Bonnie and she spun around and stopped them both from continuing their path to the heart of Mystic Falls.

"What is it?" She asked, looking up at him with carefully arranged curiosity; she didn't want her own simmering suspicions to send him careening off of what seemed to be a very precarious ledge.

"What is… _what_?" He echoed gently, bright eyes sprinkling that naked innocence from his gaze onto her skin. "Have I made you uncomfortable? Are you having second thoughts on helping me?"

"No…" He watched her green orbs go in and out of focus before dilating and then shifting back onto his face. "You said you could smell something on me…just now, when we just met?" He nodded.

"You smelled like fresh fruit, heat, chalky spices and –"

"…Life?" His blue eyes widened with a fervent nod.

"Life." He confirmed.

"But if you can smell magic on me, then perhaps on this plane I'm still useful?"

"What are the odds of that being true?" The tall vampire wondered.

"Slim to none," Bonnie admitted casually, "But that's quite literally never stopped me before."

"You have an idea?" The vampire guessed.

"I do, a very impossible, but very rewarding idea."

"What do we do?" She smiled.

"You lean in," Bonnie said slowly, reaching up onto the tips of her toes and cupping his cheeks as he moved forward, "And I try and see if there's anything left within you that could be a clue. A lingering thread of magic from the witch who cursed you, or at the very least a memory, your name, something."

"Are you sure?" The vampire gulped as he looked into her eyes, they were so close now, it unnerved him – the colour of her eyes as it contrasted her lovely, brown skin.

"We're going to need more to go on when we meet my friend, that's for sure." The witch reasoned. He watched as she closed her eyes, eyeing out the divot that formed between her brows as she concentrated. Slowly, her breathing evened out and a flutter of deep Latin unfurled from between her teeth, almost hypnotising him. "Aperio" She whispered, and the vampire knew the word well, somehow – _reveal_. She said the word over and over and the vampire shut his eyes and slipped between the folds of the last thing he'd seen – her face – and then the flipping of shadowed pages as Bonnie tried her best to dredge up something, anything for them to go with.

Suddenly, a startled gasp shook them both as a single moment reverberated into the foreground of their mind's eye, the whirling scream echoing rapidly to the blare of a siren. Bonnie yanked herself away from him with a shout and he dropped to his knees, grabbing at the sides of his head. They'd both seen the same thing: the sloping neck of a fair woman, gargling and screaming one word as her life slipped into the pool of his mouth; with gulp after gulp of her blood. The vampire's panting didn't slow as he lifted his eyes to the witch, mouth hanging open in tandem with hers as she sat slumped against a tree.

"Hello, _Eric_." Bonnie wheezed with shaking hands.

"Bonnie, I'm – sorry." He said after a long moment.

"What are you apologising for?" She wondered, she'd felt the need for an apology until he'd spoken; but what was the use of _this_ version of him apologising? And what would it mean for Bonnie if she helped him remember the monster they now both felt himself to have been, simply because she couldn't say no to the vampire he was now? Why couldn't she say no to him? Why couldn't she say no to anyone? How much _dead-er_ did she have to be before she learned her lesson?

All of her questions made her head swim suddenly and as she tried to stand up, her footing faltered and his arms were around her before her body could really give in. As soon as she was steady he put a healthy amount of distance between them and averted his eyes in what could only be shame.

"I've scared you." Eric said softly. "You have every right to change your mind."

"I know," Bonnie murmured as she took in the angles of his face in the waning moonlight. "I just…I have a few of my own things to deal with, especially being here."

" _Of course_." Eric said in a rush, almost alarmed by his own ignorance to her feelings. "Bonnie, I, uh, we could, you should talk about it, if you want – if it helps?" The vampire stammered. He was in front of her with a sudden whoosh and she curled her fingers in her hair as she pulled her curls back in place.

"We don't have to talk about me to get out of here." She pointed out. "…We don't have to talk about me, because I honestly don't even know how to, and that's okay."

"No," Eric shook his head with a childlike stubbornness, "I don't know much right now, but I know that that is _not_ okay. There's a difference between not wanting to and never having had the opportunity to." He said firmly. Even nodded his head after he spoke to reaffirm his point as the corner of his upper lip quirked. "And the little I remember from my own life has taught me enough to know that someone as reckless and as caring as you, doesn't fare well in terms of love. I know because people like that are catnip to the evils of this world, and you're always too busy protecting everyone else to notice the gun to your own head."

"You're surprisingly wise for someone with amnesia." Bonnie joked.

"You're surprisingly upbeat for someone who's just discovered their own death." They shared a small smile before he offered her his hand. She looked down at it, and then up at him again.

"Please don't be afraid of the person I am now because of the person I was. It's hard enough not knowing who I am, but now I have to come to terms with things that I've done that I can't even comprehend – and see them reflected in the eyes of the most beautiful girl I've ever seen – "

"Eric –"

"I'm not trying to make you uncomfortable. Honesty is all I have right now, I don't have my past, I have no idea what's going to happen once we're out of this woods. But I do know how I feel and I want to trust you, but more than that, I want you to trust me."

" _This_ you?" Bonnie wondered.

"It's the only one I know right now, so yes, this me." Eric said as his eyes bore into hers. Slowly, she took his hand and let him lift her upright.

"A witch is the one who did this to you but you still trust me?" Bonnie asked, looking him dead on.

"Yes." He answered easily. "Who did this to you?"

"I did."

"I don't think that's entirely true," he tilted his head at her, "In most situations it's what we can't live with that drives us to make impossible choices."

"Choosing to save him wasn't an impossible choice." Bonnie said, the change in her tone noticeable and the vampire nodded quickly in acknowledgement of it. "But either way, I suppose you're right, but it's more of what the ones I love I couldn't live without – it just so happened that the power to control the outcome was in _my_ hands and not theirs."

"What a complicated human you are." Eric noted.

"I've met my fair share of vampires, but you're definitely the most interesting." Another smile flitted between the two of them.

"I would like for us to be friends." Eric announced.

"Oh?" Bonnie smiled.

"At the very least." He said, turning away and walking ahead.

"And how do you suppose you'll go about befriending me?" The witch asked, playing.

"I will be a protector, a listener, and an encourager – as my mother always taught me to be." His steps faltered, causing Bonnie to frown.

"Is she…like you?" The girl asked.

"No, I actually haven't thought about her in centuries." Eric admitted.

"Eric, I'm sorry –"

"Don't apologise," his blue eyes swivelled down to her, "It's nice to remember something about myself, even if it is a deceased parent." Bonnie hummed and looked down at their feet. "I've remembered more in the short time I've spent with you than I have since I've gotten here."

"What do you think that means?" Bonnie's curiosity melded with his. Eric shrugged easily. The witch took in their surroundings. "We're close to the edges of the woods, it won't be long now until we get to him."

"After you." Eric waved ahead of them and followed dutifully after, missing the presence of their follower completely.

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 **Stay excellent.**


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